Medical Confidentiality: Legal and Ethical Challenges in Iran

Abstract

Being a matter of confidentiality, medical "secret" is an issue that physicians are aware of due to nature of their profession. Breach of confidentiality is defined as giving away a patient’s medical records by any means such as writing, telling, implying etc. According to law in Iran, medical confidentiality is one of the principles of medical profession and if anyone breaches it, they can be imprisoned up to one year. It is imperative that medical professionals make every effort to protect their patients’ secrets from being divulged even to their next of kin. Disclosure of patients' secret without their consent also results in public distrust in the healthcare system so that individuals either refuse to see the doctor or give incomplete and inaccurate information in the future, which per se can cause serious health risks.